BJ Penn is a UFC legend but before he even made his MMA debut, he became the first American IBJJF world champion. It was an incredible feat that secured his place in the history books, but it was made even more impressive by the fact that he had only been training for a little over 3 years. He was one of the fastest to be promoted to BJJ black belt and it was clearly well-deserved, as he beat a number of more experienced grapplers to win that world title in 2000. He went on to do incredible things in MMA as well, proving that he was one of the best grapplers in the world for quite some time.
Not only was Penn the first American to win an IBJJF World Championship, but he was also the only one to do so for another 5 years after that. He recently took part in an interview with Jake Shields and the topic of him making history came up almost immediately. He explained that although winning a world title was hard, competing in the smaller qualifying rounds within academies leading up to it was almost harder:
“We were talking about how they used to have the selectives, or the selectiva, in the gyms themselves right? That was more scary than the Mundials, than the competition, because you come over for a month for the training and you know all the people but it’s still like a home gym right? It’s all the guys in Rio vs all the guys all around Brazil and around the world in the selectives.”
Penn also explained that it was a ruthless environment, but it was also one that led to lifelong friendships:
“It was kinda every man, or every team, for themselves kinda. It was fun though. Like the camaraderies you build in that, you know them for the rest of your life.”
While he was reflecting on the training that allowed him to become the first American IBJJF world champion, BJ Penn also shared some insight into what he believes was the most valuable part of his preparation:
“You warm up for half an hour and then you do pass guard drill for 45 minutes. 45 minutes pass guard drill, you really did learn the essence of the Jiu-Jitsu because that’s really what it is. Two guys going at it and one guy pass and one guy (has to) turn him over or finish it, right? You sweep him or tap him, you stay inside and a new guy every (time). That’s one of the best drills ever (in) the history of the sport.”
The full interview with BJ Penn where he explained how he became the first American IBJJF world champion was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Jake Shields’ Fight Back podcast:
